Color Crush is my (semi) weekly exercise in getting outside of my color box. The colors I use constantly for my 9-5, for this personal blog, or for any side projects I’m working on. Working with colors outside of my everyday palette helps to keep my mind sharp and my creativity fueled.
Happy 2020 and welcome back to Color Crush. Today’s mood board was heavily inspired by a wide variety of things — particularly my favorite season and a few other pieces of pop culture.
Winter! It’s finally winter! As much as I love the fall and the leadup to Christmas, it’s really January that my favorite time of the year starts. I’ve routinely treated the New Year as the time to move into a new apartment, start a new job, or settle in a new state. There’s something transformative about the cold; something about it feels integral to my DNA.
Inspiration piece #1:
I’ve long had an obsession with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, namely the Swedish TV mini-series, feature below. Don’t ask me why; something about badass women who solve mysteries and kick butt just really appeal to me.
The first book/movie/installment of the series is set in the frigid north of Sweden during the height of winter. (No coincidence that we’re traveling to this part of the world in 2020, although thankfully during the summer.)
Anyways, back to the point.
Inspiration piece #2:
I’ve also been recently into a Youtuber/influencer named Jonna Jinton, who lives in, you guessed it, the north of Sweden. Her videos are lush, gorgeous, and make me want to hop on a plane with a parka in tow. She lives in a homestead farmhouse created decades ago by her early ancestors and something about her entire aesthetic makes me feel warm and cozy inside.
I thoroughly enjoy her vlogs as well as her short, cinematic pieces like the one below. Some of my favorite moments, ones that seem especially picturesque and quaint, include her showing the piles of wood she’ll need to keep her family warm for the winter, tours of her workshop, and general wandering through the forest around her house.
Inspiration piece #3:
Like I mentioned before, winter is my favorite season. Everything about it speaks to my soul. The crisp cold on my face as I walk along the river near our place, getting to pile on sweaters, ski season, warm drinks, and the list goes on and on.
Spring and fall are sort of tied depending on the year but summer is definitively last.
For this mood board, I wanted to create a board that brought to mind all the inspiration from the pieces that have been on my mind and combine that with an ode to my favorite season and all the joy it brings me.
The delicious feeling of coming inside and drinking a warm beverage, defrosting your hands on a mug of something hot. Of curling up with a book next to our big window that overlooks the Rockies as I read a book. Looking out from the bus on the way to work and peering at the snow-covered trees, leaves long lost.
There’s something magical about this time of year.
Happy 2020 to you xx